{"id":5205,"date":"2025-03-31T19:41:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T23:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/?post_type=research&#038;p=5205"},"modified":"2025-04-01T12:06:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T16:06:56","slug":"gst-hst-holiday-leads-to-significant-jump-in-foodservice-sales-in-january","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/fr\/research\/gst-hst-holiday-leads-to-significant-jump-in-foodservice-sales-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"GST\/HST Holiday Leads to Significant Jump in Foodservice Sales in January"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Based on data from Statistics Canada, commercial foodservice sales began 2025 on a strong note with a 7.5% increase in January, boosted by the GST\/HST holiday. Even after adjusting for inflation, real sales rose by 4.3%\u2014the highest real growth since April 2023. The increase in spending comes at a time when consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board of Canada, was at its lowest level since the early days of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Full-service restaurants led all segments with an 8.6% increase in nominal sales. This aligns with data from OpenTable that reported a significant increase in reservation activity during the tax holiday. Caterers and quick-service restaurants reported increases of 8.1% and 6.8% respectively. Only drinking places such as bars and nightclubs failed to see a jump in spending as sales rose a modest 1.0%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the provincial level, full-service restaurants were the main driver of growth. In Atlantic Canada, which saw a 15% HST holiday, robust gains were reported in New Brunswick (+15.6%), Prince Edward Island (+15.2%) and Nova Scotia (+13.4%). In contrast, Newfoundland and Labrador posted a 7.6% increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Full-service restaurant sales in Ontario and British Columbia rose by a healthy 10.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>As a result, we continue to ask the government to permanently exempt all food from sales tax, including restaurant meals, as it was during the GST\/HST holiday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada will produce an in-depth report that measures the full impact of the tax holiday once data for February are released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/fast-facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a><\/strong> for the dashboard and link to the latest Fast Facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"791\" src=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-1024x791.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5200\" style=\"width:750px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-1024x791.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-1536x1187.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-2048x1583.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RC-Insider-Story-600x464.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:30% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rc-headshots-79-of-256-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Chris Elliott\" class=\"wp-image-21058 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">As the&nbsp;<strong>Chief Economist and Vice President of Research for Restaurants Canada, Chris Elliott<\/strong>&nbsp;manages and produces a comprehensive research program that has made Restaurants Canada a leading source of information for and about Canada\u2019s nearly $120-billion foodservice industry. Chris tracks and analyzes key industry and economic indicators and translates them into member reports and publications. He also provides research to support Restaurants Canada\u2019s lobbying efforts on issues that affect foodservice operators \u2013 from payroll taxes to food costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Chris has worked with Restaurants Canada for&nbsp;over 20 years, has a Bachelor of Arts and Master&rsquo;s Degree in Economics and specializes in economic modelling and forecasting.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Based on data from Statistics Canada, commercial foodservice sales began 2025 on a strong note with a 7.5%&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5203,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"research-type":[177],"advocacy-issue":[337],"class_list":["post-5205","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","research-type-economists-notebook","advocacy-issue-cost-relief"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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